S. Mahunka szerk.: Folia Entomologica Hungarica 62. (Budapest, 2001)

FOLIA ENTOMOLOGICA HUNGARICA ROVARTANI KÖZLEMÉNYEK LXII 2001 pp. 5-9 A new Truncopes Grandjean, 1956 species from Sri Lanka (Acari: Oribatida) S. Mahunka A new Truncopes Grandjean, 1956 species from Sri Lanka (Acari: Oribatida) — A study on oribatid mites collected in Sinaraja Forest Reserve (Sri Lanka). A new Truncopes species is described. With 7 figures. Key words: Acari, Oribatida, new species, Sri Lanka. INTRODUCTION In March 2000 my wife Luise Mahunka-Papp and I spent three weeks in Sri Lanka on a collecting trip that was supported by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. We mainly concentrated on soil-inhabiting animals (Oligochaeta, Arachnida, Diplopoda, Chilopoda) and also gathered soil samples for the purpose of extracting mites in Berlese funnels. A part of the samples was extracted on the spot, the others in Budapest. The examinations have been started with the samples deriving from the Sinaraja Forest Reserve lying in the south-western part of Sri Lanka, some 60 km from the sea shore, south of the town Ratnaputra. The mountainous nature reserve is at 800-900 m. Several patches of virgin forest are intermingled with more open and dry stretches, so the biotopes are rather versatile. The Oribatidae fauna of Sri Lanka is comparatively well known (Oudemans 1915, Balogh, J. 1970, Mahunka 1973, Balogh, P. 1988), and three species of this family were published from this region (Corpuz-Raros 1989). In examining the samples I found two specimens of a very interesting Oripodida species. It was highly informative to study this material since parallel I examined the oripodids of Kenya originating from arboricolous samples, all the more so, since the present two specimens have been recovered from litter. It became evident that the presently accepted system of the family Oripodidae Jacot, 1925 (e.g. Aoki & Ohkubo 1974, Balogh & Balogh 1992) based principally on the number of the genital and anal setae, these species may be relegated into the genus Truncopes Grandjean, 1956, and may not be identified with any of the so far known species (Balogh & Balogh 1999). The instability of the system is obvious when we con-